US. Attorney General Eric Holder, the nation's top law enforcement official, pauses while testifying before the House Judiciary Committee earlier this month. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

(Newser)
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Did Eric Holder lie under oath when he testified before the House Judiciary committee on the surveillance of reporters earlier this month? The committee is probing the attorney general, who said the "potential prosecution of the press for the disclosure of material" is "not something I’ve ever been involved in, heard of, or would think would be wise policy," the Hill reports. Days after Holder made that statement, it emerged that he had personally signed off on the seizure of the email and phone records of Fox reporter James Rosen to investigate whether he was complicit in a leak of classified information.

Rep. Hank Johnson, the Democrat whose question prompted the statement from Holder, has defended the attorney general, saying the statement was not intended to apply to other investigations. "The attorney general’s statement that no journalists have been prosecuted under the Espionage Act during his tenure is accurate,” he says.